Just a few things before the "
White Storm
" engulfs us all this afternoon (I'll be safely spying upon the action from my mountain lair, so good luck to those of you who brave the journey)...
- Hmmm, so we're considering bringing in Shipalane on loan from Harrisburg. Let's revisit my notes from the Open Cup match...[The right winger for Harrisburg (#12) looked like an interesting prospect. He doesn't have the most inspiring playing bio, but we've plumbed the depths of USL2 before, and he is still relatively young. Of course, maybe he just looked good by virtue of the fact that he was going against Avery John all night.] Follow the linkbait to my notes to view the extended highlights lest you've forgotten the troubles Shipalane (#12) caused us that night. My thoughts? N'Silu gives us nothing that Pontius doesn't give us in spades, and Shipalane could be pretty damn useful on the wing, particularly if we ditch the 3-5-2. Speaking of which...
- So Namoff is OUT for the Madrid match as the Bum Hammy Hammer strikes him down (and takes Quaranta as collateral damage--that BHH is a bitch!). Ah well, at least we're not risking our season by playing essential guys carrying injuries in a meaningless friendly, right? But back to my point. Are we really going to attempt to play with three at the back against the likes of Kaka and Ronaldo with only one solid defender available? If so, I've got the over on Real Madrid hitting double figures. Of course, the painful thing here is that, sans Namoff and Simms (I'm guessing he picks up 20-25 minutes, max), we'll probably look silly in a four back set as well. Tommy wouldn't be so obtuse as to witness Real freakin' Madrid taking apart a United back four and decide that we simply can't be effective in MLS with a four-back set, can he? CAN HE?
- With that in mind, what sort of expectations do we have? Sure, we're relatively well rested, if a little banged up, while Madrid did play a match on Friday night...sort of. Toronto didn't exactly test them severely or anything, but they were running around a bit, and they are in pre-season, so theoretically, they might be tired. I'd like to think we'll be a bit more dangerous and try to play our game a little, but even with Namoff, we ship over a goal and a half per game against MLS opposition. Note to self: Prep the Iron Underpants!
See you on the other side.
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